Hello to my exceedingly small army of loyal fans…Your continental correspondent is officially in, and after years of waiting and dreaming of being here, reporting from the first literal continent of this blog's literary namesake.
[Side note]If you still haven't read "The Third and Final Continent," you really should.. I've read it a dozen times at least, but I still found it really moving this morning, and it wasn't just my sleep deprivation. It offered a new resonance light of my first formal, awkward interactions with my landlady in India and a couple of cornflakes dinners when I was still getting settled
I’m well overdue to post my first entry from the (sub)Continent. I’m sorry… on top of interning 8+ hours each day, and spending a good chunk of the rest commuting, cooking, cleaning and sightseeing, I’ve gone on a much-needed reading binge and then, it’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this place enough to share with a wider audience.
Here are a few random things to kick this off:
Weather. It’s hot. It’s REALLY hot. And it’s not supposed to be like this. New Delhi’s been a bit in limbo since I got here, since before I got here they've been waiting on the monsoon rains We need the rain for a number of reasons: to water the crops to feed India’s over a billion people. to break the 100+ heat wave that makes going out during the day unpleasant, if not unbearable, to set the rivers running again. The monsoons arrive in different parts of India at different times. Other parts are getting the rain, albeit below average due to, they claim, El Nino and other mystery factors.. But New Delhi, and other parts of the North are waiting on the deferred downpour.
[UPDATE] Just a couple hours ago, the rain began. It’s cool, and delightful, and though the puddles and mud patches make navigating tricky, for now, I love it. Just mon-soon enough
Cows: Yes, they’re everywhere, just wandering around. No one will kill them, because they're sacred in Hinduism, but no one also really takes care of them. They just hang out and eat trash. It's a bit comical, but mostly just sad.
Food: I’ll need to write an entry or several just on this, but as a quick summary, my roommates (who intern at the same place) and I tend to cook dinner at home on weekdays, order in some kind of Indian/Indian Chinese (which is different both from Chinese Chinese and American Chinese) to the office for lunch, and explore real restaurants on the weekends. All delicious, usually vegetarian (occasionally chicken, basically never beef), always an adventure. I’ve checked out a few American chains (Dominoes and KFC in moments of hunger/weakness, and have been impressed on how they’ve adapted their menus to the vegetarian Indian spice-loving palate.
Fun fact: the Dominoes’ employee of the month is known as the service guru. Because, India.
[Side note]If you still haven't read "The Third and Final Continent," you really should.. I've read it a dozen times at least, but I still found it really moving this morning, and it wasn't just my sleep deprivation. It offered a new resonance light of my first formal, awkward interactions with my landlady in India and a couple of cornflakes dinners when I was still getting settled
I’m well overdue to post my first entry from the (sub)Continent. I’m sorry… on top of interning 8+ hours each day, and spending a good chunk of the rest commuting, cooking, cleaning and sightseeing, I’ve gone on a much-needed reading binge and then, it’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this place enough to share with a wider audience.
Here are a few random things to kick this off:
Weather. It’s hot. It’s REALLY hot. And it’s not supposed to be like this. New Delhi’s been a bit in limbo since I got here, since before I got here they've been waiting on the monsoon rains We need the rain for a number of reasons: to water the crops to feed India’s over a billion people. to break the 100+ heat wave that makes going out during the day unpleasant, if not unbearable, to set the rivers running again. The monsoons arrive in different parts of India at different times. Other parts are getting the rain, albeit below average due to, they claim, El Nino and other mystery factors.. But New Delhi, and other parts of the North are waiting on the deferred downpour.
[UPDATE] Just a couple hours ago, the rain began. It’s cool, and delightful, and though the puddles and mud patches make navigating tricky, for now, I love it. Just mon-soon enough
 |
| The Jami Masjid (historick mosque) at sunset, which I toured in soul-numbing heat.. Not ideal, but I also realize I need to make the most of my limited time here. So I hydrate well, take frequent breaks in air-conditioned shopping locales, and tour on. |
Food: I’ll need to write an entry or several just on this, but as a quick summary, my roommates (who intern at the same place) and I tend to cook dinner at home on weekdays, order in some kind of Indian/Indian Chinese (which is different both from Chinese Chinese and American Chinese) to the office for lunch, and explore real restaurants on the weekends. All delicious, usually vegetarian (occasionally chicken, basically never beef), always an adventure. I’ve checked out a few American chains (Dominoes and KFC in moments of hunger/weakness, and have been impressed on how they’ve adapted their menus to the vegetarian Indian spice-loving palate.
 |
| Delicious roommate dinner: stuffed peppers with rice and chickpeas |
No comments:
Post a Comment